We've been making a piece of computer software. We're a group of people from all around the world. Most are from the USA but the boss is from the UK and several other people from various places in the EU.
We did a preorder and are making good money. The business so far is a success. We REALLY want to move to the UK so we can all work together and finish up the product asap. We visited each other briefly and loved it. Then we all went home...
So here's the issue. Apparently it's tough as heck for USA people to move to the UK and work legally.
First off we're contractors. We don't get a regular income but instead a % of the profits. Also the % of the profits is paid by the DISTRIBUTORS and not by the company we're contracted to as freelancers. So even though the company is based in the UK I get paid by distributors in the USA and make dollars and not pounds.
Now this seems to work against us when it comes to a work visa. Apparently we NEED a regular income of rougly around 20k pounds minimum. Again, we don't have a regular income. The company that contracts us doesn't pay us directly. However the amount I've made in the past few months has WELL EXCEEDED that amount. I'm pretty well off at the moment. But again, it doesn't seem that a % counts... and the boss would have to pay us each a real sallary on top of our contracted % so we could be eligible.
Now the company we work for (but aren't directly paid by) is new. It doesn't have unlimited resources. It probably can't afford to take us all there and pay us each the minimum (since there's several of us).
We're all confident in our product and would love to move over there and pay ourselves. I don't NEED a regular income from the company when I get this % that goes well beyond it (weelll beyond it). I'd love to spend my own $$$ and live over there and work with my coworkers. But again, I'm not sure that would be legal or count towards helping me get a work visa.
Are there any options that are easier than having the company try to get a license, pay for all of us and try to get us over there? The problem is that's hugely time consuming and we're on a timetable.
We're all pretty well off now because of this business venture. But since we don't get paid directly by the UK company and instead are contracted to a % from the distributors our income doesn't seem to "count" since it's foreign.
The UE people would have no problem moving over there but all us USA people seem screwed (which is very odd to me...).
Again...
-We're contractors (freelancers) for a UK company.
-The UK company doesn't pay us directly but instead we get our % of the profit from the distributors directly.
-Us USA people want to move over there and set up and office... but the Tiered Visas seem to take a lot of time and cost a lot for the company. (what's the time frame from getting a license to actually having people move there?)
-We seem to be stuck in a technicality. Even though we make much more than enough since we're not paid in a fasion they seem to like I'm not sure it counts towards the income the company we work for would be required to pay us to get us to move there, and we also don't seem to count as employees.
We all REALLY want this. But it seems out of reach besides just going on a visiting visa and working anyways (which I will not do).
Do we have options? I heard that you could work over there on a visitors visa if you get paid by a foreign (USA, etc) company. That sounds fishy to me.
If we were to go over there, work together on our software on the internet (it's not physical but a program), get paid by the USA distributor, would that be legal? I assume not.
Could we have a third party company hire us as employees to work for this other UK company and get paid by the USA distributor our %? (just trying to think of legal loopholes
)Do we have any options besides the long drawn out, probably too late to do "Tier 2" or whatever?
The situation kind of sucks. I -want- to live in the UK. Heck, I'd love to eventually stay there for 5 years and do that "stay here as long as you'd like" thing... I want to work with my coworkers. So do they. I want to pay my taxes over there and spend my new found wealth over there... but alas that seems impossible unless I -just- go on vacation.
And I considered the investor way but even though I'm doing well I'm not doing 500k pounds and create 10 jobs in the UK well. I mean I have plenty of money in the bank but... not that much ;p.
Any help?
matter. Working illegally in the UK is a crime, lying to an immigration officer is a crime. A real, get convicted, get sentenced, go to prison crime. If your UK boss gets involved in anything dodgy facilitating illegal immigration has a maximum 14 year prison sentence.